Now that you have decided to continue with your divorce proceedings, it is time for you to arrange information about your marriage and the official documentation attached to it. This is important because your divorce lawyer will need this information to prove your side of the story, as the court believes dry ink doesn’t lie.
These will include documents related to income, real estate, joint financial accounts, insurance, etc. Since your spouse can make false claims, completing and organized documents can prove whether they are truthful.
After you arrange the documents, make sure you share the same while keeping a copy to yourself with your attorney. A best practice is to organize the documents into specific categories; take a look at how you can do that.
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Income-related documents
Documents related to income are considered as the key to the process because the court needs to understand your financial status to be able to consider child support, alimony, and other property-related divisions.
Make sure you present papers related to your side hustle as well, even if it’s through commission and tips. This could add value to your financial status.
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Documents concerned to real estate
Real Estate is a significant asset that’s considered, especially if it is bought during the marriage.
Property owned individually or bought before nuptials can also come into play if marital funds are used to pay off the mortgages or fix the property.
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Join financial accounts related documents
Like income statements, documents related to financial statements, both separate and joint, come into play. Accounts opened or used to contribute to any sort of purchase during the marriage are termed as marital property and must be assessed.
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Life insurance-related documents
Papers related to life insurance are also evaluated to be potential spousal property. In some cases, these are termed spousal support. So, the cash value should be divided during the divorce or the court to provide backup for child support.
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Records related to marital debts
Accumulation of debt also needs to be documented, considered similar to financial assets. All the debts must be clearly disclosed as the court will take all of them into consideration and divide them equally as a part of the divorce. You can consult your divorce lawyer as well while disclosing all of them.
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Pension funds related documents
As a part of property settlement, retirement assets must also be disclosed for the court to take into consideration.
This is important because the retirement assets constitute a part of marital property, and its subsequent benefits or interest could be considered a spousal benefit.
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Statements related to automobiles owned
Vehicles also constitute marital assets; hence these are also taken into consideration by the court. One should disclose all the vehicles owned for the court to determine their ownership.
Conclusion
You must have understood what documents you would need to arrange for your divorce lawyer going through the above points.
Apart from this, since the divorce process can be complex and traumatic, make sure you seek help from your near and dear ones while avoiding the negative energy questioning your decision.
